


Soaked

by PwoperNinjaElf



Category: Muse
Genre: AU, Established Relationship, Fluff and Smut, Hot Tub, M/M, Snow, Water
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-26
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-30 13:41:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1019301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PwoperNinjaElf/pseuds/PwoperNinjaElf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>1 hot tub + 2 (mad) sexy men + countless snowflakes = you do the maths.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Soaked

  
  
I wasn't surprised when I woke up in the middle of the night to find that I was in an unfamiliar bed, as, blinking away in the darkness, my bearings quickly caught up and I recalled the near endless car journey I'd been on with Dominic to finally arrive at our destination. The current location of the bed I was in.

And what a location it was. Nestled in a snowy, mountain rich national park somewhere in California (note to self: pay attention when Dom talks next time about where he's taking you), in a modern and comfortable lodge surrounded by nothing but redwoods and twisting hiking trails yet to be explored. Simply put, the place couldn't be any more perfect, yet I'd be just as happy to stay in a shed somewhere near Blackpool, if it meant I could still have the man I loved at my side.

We'd been exhausted when we'd finally arrived here though, and had immediately just crawled into bed, our suitcases all still left unpacked. We could hardly be blamed though, what with the tremendously long and dull flights all the way from London to first Dallas and then Sacramento, only to then have to schlep our hired car - armed only with a borrowed GPS - all the way out here. Dominic had naturally argued with the directions we were given and refused for us to stop the car, so desperate to finally show me the surprise lodge he'd managed to organise for us, to the point that when I got tired of driving, he'd just switched with me and taken over. I'd then, of course, proceeded to pass out, only waking again when Dom squealed out a loud "Wake up, Bells. We're here!" To which he'd been less than impressed with my answering "At fucking last."

But hey, give me a break, travelling for practically two days solid can do that to a bloke, luckily though he'd quickly forgiven me and after a brief little tour of the place, which had ended with the two of us collapsing on the bed in tired kisses, I could finally shut my eyes and sleep properly.

Now though, this brings me to the issue at hand, as when I sleepily reached out for Dom, my hand only made contact with empty bedding, his side already cold.

Of course this can't be right, I thought as I ran a hand through the overgrown, fluffy strands of my hair, the action briefly reminding me that it was about high time I got the thick mop of hair cut again, before my mind went straight back to its default: Dominic. So, with a yawn and lazy stretch, I got up and tried to ignore the latent sense of panic I could feel at the bottom of my gut, as I decided it would be best if I went and found Dom. There was certainly no way I'd be able to go back to sleep without the knowledge of his whereabouts, or his warm body next to mine.

I slowly padded out the loft bedroom and went down the first set of stairs, my brain quickly drawing on what little knowledge of the lodge's layout it had managed to obtain before I'd shut it blissfully down to sleep.

Half the house was on stilts, I remembered that much, as it had been built on a mountainside, which also allowed for excellent views over the large trees outside. I considered perhaps going over to have a look out a window to see if it was as breath-taking in the dark, despite the unease I still felt at not knowing where Dom was, only for my eyes to instantly zone in on a solitary source of light coming from one of the rooms.

Deciding that Dom had to be the culprit of said light, I headed towards the yellow glow, cautiously opening the slightly ajar door, not wanting to startle the man by just barging in. There was a distinct draft coming from the room and, rubbing my arms against the chill, I quickly found the cause of it, along with that of the light.

Unlike our loft-style bedroom, this room had a door which opened onto a balcony, the outside lights of which were casting the yellow glow and the fact that the sliding doors were wide open, allowed for the freezing air outside to flood the little room. This all, however, became completely irrelevant when the tension in my body finally relaxed at the reassuring sight of the man I loved. He was simply relaxing, as cool as a cucumber, in the steaming hot tub on the balcony deck, toned arms spread out along the edge as he leaned back leisurely, despite the fact that light snowflakes were fluttering around him.

"Dom? What the fuck are you doing in the hot tub in the middle of night while it snows?!" I called through the open doors, arms tightly wrapped around myself in a vain attempt to keep at least some of my body heat.

"Hello to you too, Matty," he replied with one of his ridiculously flashy white-toothed grins, as he suddenly sat up a bit straighter, but was sure to keep those lean arms spread out. "And isn't it obvious?"

"Isn't what obvious?" I asked incredulously, my skin raised in goosebumps all over due to the unpleasant chill, my PJ trousers and tee clearly not providing nearly enough protection against the cold.

"Well, don't you think it's beautiful out here? I mean, look at the snow! I thought you loved snow, Matt," was his nonchalant response, as he lifted a long, bronzed leg out of the water in order to catch a few of the snowflakes with his foot, the sound of splashing water loud in the otherwise calm night, his heated skin giving off steam in the crisp air. "This is just the best way in which to view it, at least in my opinion."

"And why's that, exactly?" I asked, still somewhat confused by his strange night-time activity, though the distracting sight of him obviously teasing me with that leg wasn't helping my mind think straight either. He was obliviously being a completely blatant tease as always.

"Well, I get to be surrounded by the falling snow, while being kept warm and relaxed in the water here. Besides, it also gives me an excuse to forgo wearing anything out in the snow. A win win situation if ever there was one," he grinned back smugly, looking away from the gathered powder-like, white ice on his shin and foot, though the look on his face instantly shifted when he caught me ogling the bit of skin I could see. "Of course, why take my word for it, when you could just experience it for yourself, eh?"

I just raised an eyebrow at him #sceptically#, the very idea of parting with my clothing, while I was already absolutely freezing with them on, completely unappealing. Definitely a first for me; I usually leap at the chance to not have to wear clothes, especially if an equally naked Dominic is in the vicinity. Yet now it was different, I could even feel the start of shivers and chattering teeth beginning, definitely ruining any desire to strip.

The man is obviously mad. But then I already knew that. "You're insane. I'm going back to the warm bed," I huffed and began to turn around and leave, when I heard the sound of more splashing water and suddenly Dom was grabbing onto my wrist with his hot, wet hand and pulling me outside and onto the balcony with him.

"Come on, Bells, just try it. Please, for me?" he asked and it was all I could do to just stare back at him in all his naked, dripping wet glory, and not jump him right then and there, the cold and snow be damned.

"Dom, you've clearly lost the plot, aren't you cold?!" I finally managed to ask, sure to keep my gaze on his face, his damp blond hair curling around it and over those adorably goofy ears of his, little snowflakes sitting sweetly in amongst his highlighted locks.

"Well I'm only cold now 'cause I got out, obviously, but that's besides the point. I want you to join me. Pretty please?" This time he was sure to hit me with his best go yet at the puppy dog eyes routine, while he moved both hands to now instead hold my shoulders. "I'll be sure to make it worth your while," he added, one of his hands dropping down to grip my hip suggestively. Oh shit.

"Fuck it, fine. But if I freeze my balls off, be warned that I will have to cut yours off in compensation, and I don't think either of us want that," I relented, not surprised by how easily he'd managed to win me over.

Generally I'm the one with the ridiculous ideas and propositions and he's never once not at least tried and attempted them all with me, so it was really the least I could do. Of course there was also the little fact that I happened to be madly in love with him. Yeah, that didn't really hurt in helping convince me either.

The smile that immediately took hold of his face instantly assured me that I'd made the right decision, the following kiss he then gifted me with, only cementing the fact even more so, before he swanned back over to the hot tub.

I didn't need asking twice as I greedily took in the sight of his arse's muscle flexing at the movement of him climbing back into the steaming tub of water. Suddenly the fact that I was freezing and it was snowing - albeit lightly- became completely irrelevant, as I hastily stripped off my clothes and charged for the expected warmth of the jacuzzi.

"Graceful as ever," Dom laughed, hands held out protectively as I practically jumped in, spraying displaced water all over.

"Hey, it's too cold out there," I reasoned, sighing and closing my eyes at the brilliant warmth that was lulling and bubbling around me as I sank down up to my neck, content to just stay like that until sunrise. That is of course, until I finally opened my eyes to see Dom beckoning me over to him with a cheeky finger.

"Come on you."

Suddenly it was me playing the role of the puppy, as I eagerly complied and swished through to slip into his inviting lap, not even bothered that my new position resulted in only my waist and downwards still being submerged in warmth. There was just no beating actual skin-on-skin contact, especially if said skin belonged to a certain Mister Dominic Howard.

The action, however, also instantly brought my attention to the fact that we were both naked, our groins making good contact. Naked and in a hot tub, surrounded by nothing but trees and a breath-taking view (well at least in the day time when you could actually see out there properly, that is).

Ah, so perhaps Dom's midnight hot tub dip in the snow wasn't so bizarre after all. The bastard had clearly planned this, knowing that I'd no doubt wake (what with being familiar with the fact of my light sleeping) and the fact that I can never say no to his puppy eyes. Sneaky.

"Aw, don't frown, Bells," he chuckled, snapping me out of my deductions, as he lifted my chin up so that I would look straight at him.

"You planned this all," was my simple statement, void of any note of questioning for I knew it to be true.

"So? Aren't you glad you're in here now, with me?" he asked, using his light grip on my chin to bring my mouth to his. Our lips touched in a brief, but sweet, kiss. "And isn't this better than sleeping?" he added with a sly buck of his hips, instantly arousing the last of my self-restraint.

"Hmm, perhaps," I teased, only for him to repeat the action of his hips again. My arms instinctively wrapped around his neck as I rolled my hips down in response too, beginning a good grinding rhythm between us.

"Fuck, Matt. I've been wanting this since we left the apartment back home," Dom groaned and I could feel his hands work their way down my back; their movements slow but purposeful.

"Mmm, me too," I breathed back, capturing his lips just as I felt his hands cup my arse on his lap.

"So I can feel," he smiled around the kiss, rubbing up against me pointedly, only to pull away a bit so that he could look at me properly. "It's been too long since I've had you." His breath came out in a steam of warm air on my neck, before he proceeded to nuzzle my neck, nipping at my collarbones.

I couldn't hold back the mewls which escaped from me at the stimulation, his playful bites combined with our grinding hips sending my head spinning easily, along with the swishing water around us.

Panting with want, the sensation of his hard cock rubbing between my arse cheeks getting to be too much, yet definitely by no means enough, I leaned up a bit, my mouth right by his ear. "Far too long, I think it's time we fixed that," I agreed, snaking my tongue out to lathe it over the shell of his ear.

In response, I felt one of his fingers, which had been clutching at my arse, slide teasingly to push at my entrance. "Is that what you want, to be filled by me?"

"It is indeed, but I believe it's what you want too," I grinned back, before swiftly impaling myself upon his digit, an eager groan sounding out from between both our lips at the action.

The feel of him working his finger inside me, thrusting it in and out, before adding a second finger to the mix, caused goosebumps to raise along my skin which wasn't submerged by the soothing, warm water of the hot tub. A shiver worked through my body too, but whether it was caused by the cold air hitting the skin of my exposed back or the undeniable pleasure of Dom's fingers inside me, I couldn't tell. Either way it seemed to only spark more from within me, allowing his fingers to brush directly against my prostate and result in me moaning wantonly into his ear.

"That's it, Matty, moan for me. Open yourself for me, I'll make you feel so good," Dom encouraged, his free hand having come up to stroke damply through the tufts of my overgrown hair, which was most likely sticking in multiple directions; only made messier now as he tugged at it and ran his wet fingers through it.

I could feel the warm water droplets his fingers left, running through my hair, against my scalp and then tracking down the side of my neck, tickling my alerted skin and sliding along my back, before returning back to the bath of water around us. He reached forward a few times to lap at them; along my temple or the skin of my neck, every time, the feel of his soft, lush lips pressing to my cool skin driving me closer to the edge, allowing his fingers more slack to move in deeper.

I was in the process of sucking kisses along the raised tendons that connected his neck to those strong, able shoulders of his, having to break to pant every now and again, when the fingers in my hair suddenly tightened and he pulled my head back.

"Yeah?" I asked, my chest heaving slightly and eyes feeling heavy, tingles racing all along my spine and a welcome heat building in my stomach.

"Shit, you look like sin, Matt," he groaned, bringing my mouth down to meet his roughly. His tongue moved insistently between my welcoming mouth and he began to practically fuck my mouth with the slick, dominating muscle. My tongue felt heavy and lazy in comparison, my jaw just wanting to hang slack as a third finger easily pushed its way to join the others within me.

At this point, I unwound my arms, to instead grab hold of his head for support as we kissed, my thumbs stroking at the coarse stubble along his jaw, as our mouths worked together in perfect, well-practised sync.

When it felt like I couldn't take much more of the stimulation, my body buzzing and the heat in my groin and stomach beginning to boil over, Dom easily sensed it and pulled his fingers out, settling his hands on my hips instead as he broke the lengthy snog.

"Ready, Bells?" he asked, his thumbs rubbing my hipbones in circular motions and his prominent nose nudging against my neck again, wet tongue darting out to taste the light film of sweat I could feel had built up on my uncovered torso.

"Fuck yes," I nodded, positioning my hands on his shoulders as he helped lift my hips up with his. "Need you...in me...properly."

"There's nowhere I'd rather be," he grinned, those big, perfect, white teeth of his on full display.

"Damn straight," I grinned back with my own - less than perfect by a long shot - set of teeth.

So, holding my breath, we positioned ourselves, my thighs straining a bit as they solely held me up, before I could feel the head of his cock push up against me under the water. I only let my breath out in a long, deep moan when I finally eased myself down onto him, his considerably sized length stretching me further than his fingers had.

When I'd finally sunk down as far as I could, Dom's hands abandoned my waist to instead stretch out behind him, along the edge of the hot tub, as he shut his eyes, head thrown back in a silent moan of his own.

At some point my hands had gotten wet and, as we allowed my body to adjust, I watched the way stray droplets of water created little paths down his shoulders and chest from my hands. The streaks of water steamed off his golden-tan skin, which contrasted so much with the cold winter setting we'd surrounded ourselves in. My eyes felt mesmerised by the sight of the water slipping over his honeyed flesh, dragging over his lean muscles and twisting over the curves of them, guiding my eyes to look at his raised and hardened nipples.

I almost - almost - forgot my own predicament, as I leaned over to suck my mouth onto one of the firm buds, a trail of moisture having finally slid across one, only to be swiftly brought crashing back when the movement caused his sheathed cock to jolt me unexpectedly from within.

"Shit, you okay, Matt?!" Dom asked, his head instantly snapping back up at the sound of my yelp.

"'M...fine...just a bit...unexpected," I panted in reply, my fingers having curled tighter around his shoulders. I really was okay too, just a tad out of practise with the whole being on the receiving end of things, the movement having jarred me abruptly and fairly deeply.

"Good, the last thing I want is to hurt you," he said, kissing me lightly on the corner of my mouth.

"Don't worry; I'm fine...let's start moving though, eh?" I reassured him, slowly rolling my hips a bit, pleasure instantly shooting up along the same path pain had only seconds earlier.

"Just let me know if-"

"Dom."

"Okay, okay. Sheesh, excuse me for being a caring boyfriend," he huffed, but couldn't hide the small smile curling his kiss-plumped lips.

"Well then, shall we? Or am I gonna have to do everything? Again," I asked raising an eyebrow challengingly, while maintaining my steadying rhythm.

"Oi, I resent that, you cheeky, arrogant, little," looking at the way both my eyebrows then both raised warningly, he quickly backtracked, "gorgeous, kind, fabulous, handsome, amazing-"

"Just shut up, Dom."

"Okay."

After that his hips once more came to join things, his hands clutching the edge of the tub with every rough downward roll I gave, my body having now acclimatised to easily accommodate him. I'd missed riding him and I'd certainly not done so in a hot tub before, so all things considered I wasn't sure how long I would last.

I just had to make sure he came first, I couldn't help think with a smirk, knowing I could use it as a source for teasing him for the rest of our trip. I had to have something to get back at him with after all when he undoubtedly beats me at hiking. Let's face it; with my skinny limbs and physical ineptitude when it comes to all things exercise related (except fucking of course; now that I can do better than a bloody porn star even if I do say so myself), I didn't stand a hope in hell at having the same stamina when trekking up godforsaken mountains as the sporty blond.

"I take it you've settled then?" he gasped after a particularly sharp twist of my hips, fingers still digging into the smooth flesh of his shoulders.

"Of course," I confirmed with another screw and snap, rewarded by the sight of his knuckles turning white under the pressure of his grip and a low groan stemming from deep in his throat.

"Thought you were meant to make _me_ scream?" I teased with a throaty chuckle, only for him to furrow his eyebrows; his face setting in concentration: clearly having accepted my transparently obvious baiting.

Despite having steeled myself in preparation for his expected retaliation, I still couldn't help cry out as he gave a hard, powerful thrust upward, hitting my prostate dead-on.

"You were saying?" he grunted, repeating the action again, my knuckles now the ones turning white as I clutched at his toned, slim shoulders for support, my front teeth sinking into my bottom lip.

"'S more like it," I managed to respond through gritted teeth.

"Cheeky," he chuckled lowly, his brow still furrowed with concentration as he drove himself deeper within me.

This time I wasn't able to do more than moan in response, my whole body assaulted with fiery pleasure, his body moving perfectly, knowing precisely how to work my own. My thighs tightly clenched his, my knees aching from having to kneel and my feet were freely surrounded just by the swish of water around me, the pumps nearby shooting bubbled pressure about, which might have annoyed me, if I wasn't already so overwhelmed with sensations, as it tickled at the soles of my feet.

"You gonna come, Matty babe?" he asked, reaching one of his hands between our tightly pressed bodies, the other remaining rapped around the hot tub edge. When his left hand came to wrap tightly around my pulsing cock, I nearly bucked straight off his lap as I gasped loudly in the otherwise calm night. "Hmm, I think you are, I can feel the rapid beat of your heart through your dick," he grinned smugly, his thumb rubbing up along my shaft, applying painfully divine pressure to my already taught skin.

Biting back a desperate cry, the bastard clearly onto my game plan, I just shook my head, not wanting to open my mouth in fear of whatever betraying moan might break free. So, instead, I just flopped my head down to rest on his shoulder, my left hand making way by sliding down his strongly toned bicep, slipping along easily thanks to its water-slicked state.

"Aw, why you hiding your pretty face, Matty? I want to see those lust-filled eyes of yours when you come," Dom asked, the hand on my cock speeding up its action a bit, making me clench down hard on his own dick reflexively.

I couldn't help grinning, pleased, when I heard his breath hitch in response, and turned my head away from where it was nuzzled into the crook of his neck, to instead stare down at his outstretched arm.

I'd always had a bit of a thing for the leanly muscled limbs, enjoying to watch the way the tendons and muscle worked beneath his bronzed skin, which was dusted with the fairest of golden hair. But my best was the way his veins stood up along them, pressed up against the thin skin by the build-up of fine muscle.

Despite the way I was now purposefully clenching down on him as I rocked, he must've caught me staring and, knowing full well about my kink, began to make a fist and clench it and unclench it. The action causing his tendons and muscles to shift, his raised veins dancing about as a result.

"Like what you see, hmm?" he asked, his breath hot and heavy, tickling along my scalp and causing my hair to stand on end, a small shiver running through me, prompting his own body to quiver too. "God, Matt, how do you feel so good?" he asked, giving up on teasing me with the tantalising sight of his arm, to instead wrap it around my narrow waist, his hand splaying out on my hipbone. I may have a thing for his arms, but the man's a sucker for my hips.

"Because you do too," I replied, dropping a bit of my competitiveness to once more return to the sweet, unguarded tone of earlier, as I pulled away to actually look back down at him.

In reply he just reached up and joined our lips once more, the hand on my hip squeezing lovingly, while the one on my cock gave a strong twist, causing my breath to catch as his tongue pushed into my mouth anyway. I could feel the way his lips pulled into a satisfied grin at my reaction.

A bit annoyed by his sneakiness, I chose to automatically take control. I used my tongue to instead dominate his mouth this time, both my hands coming up to hold his head in place as I showed him how to really fuck someone else’s mouth with your tongue alone.

Naturally he moaned and breathed heavily in response, the hand on my dick’s movements stuttering; giving away just how close he was too. Perfect.

I pulled out of the kiss then, to suck along his jawline, scraping my teeth teasingly along his stubble; making him moan more, while doing my best to hold back the haughty smirk I could feel tugging at the corners of my mouth.

“Fuck, Matt, yes…” he groaned, stretching his neck out to expose more of it to me as I moved lower, more towards his Adam’s apple now, which I proceeded to suck on between grating at it gently with my teeth. As he continued to express his pleasure verbally, most of it just garbled nonsense, the protrusion bobbed beneath my mouth, making me suck harder; his cock throbbing steadily inside me, spurring me on.

At this point I knew I had him. Hook line and sinker.

“C-close,” he managed to gasp, as I’d began to suck at random spots along the juncture between his shoulder and neck; leaving my mark behind, the small snowflakes which had landed on his shoulder were then also quickly lapped up by my greedy tongue. Their cold wetness a stark contrast to the steamy saltiness of his skin, which quickly melted the ice I didn’t reach.

“Then come. Come for me, Dom,” I drawled between sucks and kisses, finding myself addicted to his heated, silky skin.

“What, so that you can go on about having better stamina ‘where it counts’ when I cream your scrawny arse hiking? I know you too well, Matt.”

Fuck, was I really that obvious?

“’s not true,” I disagreed, lifting my head up at last to look back into his misted greys, his pupils all but covering the silver irises.

He appeared to want to say something more against my motives, when my knee suddenly slipped from where it was supporting me, impaling me fully on his cock unexpectedly. The slip caused the head of his cock to literally ram my prostate spot-on, and in so doing deciding for us.

The rough, powerful hit sent sparks firing up along my nerves, the steady burn in my lower back finally boiling over as I cried out loudly, doing my best to hold myself just a little bit longer. The triggered nerves clenched down on him too though and he cried out with me; our eyes locking, daring the other to finally let go.

I could feel the sweat beading on the back of my neck and temples, my thighs trembling with effort and I had to hold on tightly to his shoulders once more, to try exert some of the tension elsewhere.

"Fuck it," he groaned then, before I could suddenly feel him coming inside me, his cock pulsing with its release, making me moan loudly along with him. " _Uuunngg, Matt!_ "  
  
Satisfied I'd won, I could finally - at long fucking joyous last - let go myself. My orgasm hit me like a train, tearing at me from the inside with the most overwhelming pleasure I'd felt in a long time and I nearly fell backwards into the water as I threw my head back and cried out, Dom's clumsy but rushed grab around my waist luckily prevented drowning by orgasm though.  
  
Jeez, what a story to have to go back and tell my mum that would've been for him.  
  
 _'Sorry, Mrs Bellamy, I kinda drowned your son when I gave him the fucking of his life in a hot tub...'_  
  
Yeah, he definitely wouldn't have stayed on the Christmas greeting card list.  
  
Back to reality though; I felt a complete mess, unable to even focus on one thing alone, my body was buzzing in a white-hot heat everywhere and my mind was struggling to steady itself, so utterly...well, blown, to function straight. But what a mess to be in.  
  
When everything slowly managed to stabilise, my mouth more than likely forming a most retardedly satisfied grin - if looking at Dom's was anything to go by - I clutched at his jaw, cupping it, as I gazed back at him dopily.  
  
"Good, huh?" he grinned, obviously chuffed that the whole thing had been thanks to his initiation of it.  
  
"Definitely," I smiled back sweetly, pulling his face up so that I could plant a kiss on his cushiony, pink lips. "Especially as I outlasted you."  
  
"Matt!"  
  
I wish I could say I was surprised when the next thing I knew, was that I'd been tossed backwards into the bubbling, warm water anyway; unable to catch onto something for support in time, I ended up fully submerged in the large tub, with a mouthful of warm, chlorinated water, bubbles rushing up my nose too.  
  
I immediately leapt up, coughing and spluttering the disgusting liquid, as I clawed my messy, wet hair out of my eyes.  
  
"Way to ruin the mood, Dominic!" I scolded, spitting a good stream of water at him, but he slid down off his seat quick enough, to instead grab at me under the water and hoist me, kicking and struggling, right back onto his lap like before.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, crosspatch," he winked, his arms wrapped around me and restraining mine, as he leaned in for a firm kiss. "Lighten up, Matty. I'll give you that 'victory', though I resent you turning our sex life into a competition."  
  
"'S just 'cause you lost," I pointed out, finally relaxing in his hold, so he loosened it.  
  
"Whatever, Matt," he said, rolling his eyes good-naturedly.  
  
We sat like that, me comfortably in his lap with his arms lightly draped around me, while I looked out over his shoulder at the dark view outside, attempting to differentiate the dark trees from one another amongst the lightly tumbling snow, until he coughed pointedly.  
  
"Hmm?" I asked, finally looking back up at his face, only for my voice to catch and insides heat for a whole new reason.  
  
In that moment, he looked - as embarrassingly cliché as it sounds - like an apparition of sorts. A dream. His cheeks were flushed rosey, grey eyes heavy and dreamy, with a satisfied, lazy smile spread across those kiss-swollen lips, his hair was also slightly damp thanks to my wet hands and sticking up in all directions, small, little, crisp-white snowflakes having even nestled amongst the scruffy, golden tufts.  
  
"So, about this supposed vict-"  
  
"You look so pretty right now."  
  
"-ory- Sorry, what? Did you just say I look _'pretty'?!_ "  
  
I just nodded dumbly back, reaching out a hand to run it through his darkened locks, capturing the little sprinkles of snow.  
  
"Ok, maybe we should head back to bed, hmm? If the lack of sleep wasn't enough, I think the hot tub's just gone and cooked your brain," he suggested, gently nudging me off his lap and onto the seat, so that he could get up.  
  
As he eased up to a standing position in the middle of the tub, hot streams of water rushing down his body and splashing with the movement, his bronzed skin giving off steam in the cold air, he raised an eyebrow at me as a sigh - yes I sighed okay - fell from my lips.  
  
"Yip, definitely fried. Come on, you, you're gonna catch a cold, your lips have already turned blue, but rest assured, I know how to fix that," he chuckled, reaching out a hand toward me, to help me up.  
  
"Fine, next time I won't complement you then," I huffed with a shudder as I stood up, rather a lot less gracefully if I'm honest, my legs nearly wobbling out from under me, as I was assaulted with the biting air and exhaustion. "I still won though."  
  
"It wasn't a competition, Matt," he sighed as he helped me out the hot tub after him. "But, sure, if you want to believe so, then do."  
  
"I do and shall," I grinned, slapping his peachy arse as he bent down to pick up the clothes we'd both discarded, the sound easily carrying amongst the steady hum of the hot tub and otherwise silent night.  
  
"Oi! Don't even start with me, 'cause you know I'll win this one!"  
  
After that I ran, still buck arse naked, yelling and giggling madly as he chased me back to bed, hurling clothes at me and declaring himself the real victor, once he'd eventually apprehended me and thrown me over his shoulder, lugging me the rest of the way.  
  
Lord only knows what the hiking is gonna be like over the next few days...


End file.
